On November 30th, NOAA announced that the fee for registering with the National Saltwater Angler Registry will be $15 as of January 1, 2011, a change affecting many anglers and spear fishermen in Hawaii, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Anglers from other coastal states are exempted from the federal requirement when they comply with state regulations, as 22 of the nation's 24 coastal states have saltwater angler registries or licenses exempted from the federal requirement because they are providing registry information to the National Saltwater Angler Registry.
"If you have questions about whether this applies to you or not, best thing to do is log on immediately to www.countymyfish.noaa.gov for details," said Jim Donofrio, Executive Director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA). "You still have time to register federally at no cost for the next 365 days if you get online and sign up right now," Donofrio said.
According to the RFA, the last state in the continental U.S. to come into compliance with the federal registry requirements will be New Jersey, as recent legislation approved by the Senate to create a saltwater registry is expected to be signed by the governor by January 6th at the earliest. "While the Senate voted unanimously to approve Senate Bill 1122, the Assembly version requires a slight technical amendment to match the amended bill approved by the Senate and now awaiting the governor's signature to make law," Donofrio said.
"It's a minor technicality that sometimes happens when you're working so fast and furiously to get a bill passed before an advancing deadline," Donofrio said. "New Jersey's coastal fishermen should take comfort in knowing that this procedural vote in the Assembly will ensure that longstanding Fish & Game Code specifications are kept intact, to the benefit of saltwater anglers," he added.
According to the RFA, a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) survey estimates the number of resident saltwater anglers in New Jersey at 340,000, with another 155,000 visiting from out of state (496,000 total saltwater anglers). As of December 1, NOAA Fisheries' tallied 182,067 New Jersey resident anglers as having registered under the new federal registry program, another 63,026 registered saltwater anglers from Pennsylvania (a total of 245,093 registered coastal anglers in the region). The same survey also ranked New Jersey 5th in the nation amongst coastal states in terms of overall saltwater retail sales with an estimated $643.6 million spent on saltwater tackle alone, which based on 7% sales tax contributed over $45 million in tax revenue to New Jersey.
"On top of any state sales tax, a 10% federal excise tax is imposed on all fishing tackle sold in America which means New Jersey saltwater fishermen paid somewhere around $65 million in added federal tax into the Sport Fish Restoration Account managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior," said RFA Managing Director Jim Hutchinson, Jr. "New Jersey received more than $3.8 million dollars back from this fund, and the USFWS estimates that 60% of that money or over $2.3 million was to have been allocated to state saltwater programs," added Hutchinson, more than enough he said to cover the cost of the required registry program.
"There have been a lot of crazy numbers thrown around by folks who've recently decided to get involved in fisheries management as a sidelight, but these numbers really don't add up when it comes to our coastal fishing and boating businesses and the individuals they depend on," Donofrio said.
Donofrio said more accurate accounting numbers from the New Jersey Marine Trades Association (MTA) show New Jersey's recreational boaters spent approximately $2.1 billion during the 2006 survey period, of which $1.1 billion were in trip-related expenditures and $938 million were in annual boating purchases. After accounting for leakages to other states' economies (e.g. through the purchase of goods manufactured in another state) in-state recreational boating contributed $1.8 billion to New Jersey's economy in 2006. MTA results show that 56% of respondents indicated that fishing is their primary purpose for boating.
The Department of Environmental Protection recently testified before two different Senate committees that would require $5 apiece from anglers to administer the registration requirements outlined in S1122/A823, a figure that Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee members found strange. "The basis of the testimony was that $1.01 by contract goes to a third-party vendor to administrate the actual registry, while the other $4 just goes to salaries and stuff," Hutchinson said. "The angling public deserves to hear the real numbers here, not the rhetoric."
By using both the recent NOAA Fisheries registration data for New Jersey and Pennsylvania registrations (245,093 anglers) as well as the USFWS 2006 survey estimate (496,000 anglers), coupled with the DEP's own $1.01 per entry figure, RFA says the estimated cost to the State in order to administrate a saltwater registry would run from $247,544 to upwards of $500,960.
"We recognize the funding issues for the state and especially New Jersey's marine fisheries, but New Jersey is expected to receive about $2.4 million in Sport Fish Restoration Funds for the coming fiscal year, 60% of that specifically dedicated towards saltwater programs," Donofrio said. "The registry legislation can be funded for much less than $1.4 million, so let's be honest with our facts and figures here." Donofrio said the RFA-NJ chapter has been actively engaged in the registration push on behalf of the coastal community for nearly 4 years, and said the time for debate has long passed.
"This registry legislation will meet the federal requirements as outlined by NOAA Fisheries, and it will turn New Jersey into a model state in terms of overall sportfish participation, which is good for business and great for increasing our future allocations of resource," Donofrio added.
Once the Assembly votes on the procedural amendment, S1122/A823 will need to be signed by Governor Christie so that New Jersey can apply for exempted state designation from the federal registration requirements. "There may be some overlap, so all anglers really need to get their free registry this week, and next week we need to contact the Governor in force to let him know how important this legislation is to our coastal fishermen," Donofrio said.
Visit www.countmyfish.noaa.gov for details about the national saltwater registry.
